Category / Kimchi Kimochi

More than a Feeling

by Sixer

Boldly As It Is

I’m having such fun playing with my new camera. I’m testing out the free apps available for the iPhone so I can edit pictures on the go (one less excuse not to blog!). Hilariously, my computer is so old that I can’t use iCloud to wirelessly share photos between it and my phone. Talk about a generation gap. 

Anyway, here’s Camera360 in action:

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This is the greek circle in our wonderful “towne” center{{1}} [[1]]the ‘e’ has no sound but lots of weight[[1]]. I love it. It’s filled with kitschy little boutiques and high-class, once-in-a-while restaurants. The very bricks seem to smile when I walk over there, and as it is an easy walking distance from work I often do a little window shopping during my lunch break. It’s a great place to practice photography, but I have to get over being camera shy first. I swiped the photo above in a hasty second before shoving the phone back in my purse and checking to see if anyone saw me. Not that the people there care, but annoyingly I do.

 

Anyway, this is actually a productivity post. Yes, I’m info-dumping on you and not even trying to hide it. Shameless. My current projects include a simple Pink Blouse, New Look 6628, in a slightly stretchy cotton. My grandmother helped me place the pattern and cut out the pieces (in *cough* August *cough*). I’ve completed the front and back and just need to tackle the collar and button band before putting the whole thing together.

 

Then there’s the Floral dress:

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Look at that french seam! I’m aiming for a wearable muslin for this. Honestly I think the fabric is better suited for pajamas than day wear; however, I’m hoping that with the right accessory I can make it outside-appropriate, because this dress is going to be stunning. At least on the inside. Using Project Runaway 2848, the garment has those long, uninterrupted vertical seams which I love, and kangaroo pockets, which I’m conflicted about. Pockets are always good, and these are just the right size, but do I really want a pouch right on my stomach?

I’m less indecisive about the yards of yummy fabric now safely stashed in my closet. My grandmother gave me A LOT of fabric when I was down there last. I don’t have plans for all of it yet, rather I’m focusing on growing my skills and techniques. My sewing goals right now are simply to learn how and to get a better grasp on all the spatial awareness/3D stuff which I’m constantly blanking on. I do want to get into the habit of matching fabrics and patterns. My first real knitting project, I attempted to make delicate, finger-weight wristlets out of the bulkiest yearn in the store. I still struggle with this tendency to ignore the potential of my materials in pursuit of a imaginary final result. Which brings me to slowing down. As a product-crafter I’m always trying to rush through a project and cut corners. This might possibly work for experienced seamstresses, and moms, but can only mean complete disaster for this spatial-lightwieght. So meticulous attention to detail and a journey-over-destination mentality are major priorities.

Of course, the real joy is the finished object . . . . . .

by Sixer

Hello, 2014!

The Labyrinth, found in the Cathedral of Chartres. Rubbing taken from a gift

The Labyrinth, found in the Cathedral of Chartres. Rubbing taken from a gift


And the wheel starts a new revolution! Not a change – either in motion, direction, speed, or shape – just a restart. A reboot. A repetition. A continuation of all that has come before. A natural progression from one thing to another. From 2013 to 2014.

I had a lot of fun  reviewing my year last night. A lot of things happened in 2013: I went to two weddings, drove to Georgia (twice), went hiking in Asheville’s arboretum, actually finished a sewing project, and somehow found myself hosting a NaNo night. But some of the more impactful things have been more mundane, barely noticeable really. I started going to a Bible study, I played both D&D and WoD (every. week. for almost four months), reached new financial goals, and got a new roommate. Not huge red letters items, just every day things I adjusted to without thinking. Until now, of course. With this excuse to pause for a moment, at the zenith of the circle, you might say, I find myself itching for newness and longing for the familiar. I have Big Plans for 2014. Not for radical and outlandish adventures, but for quiet, simple, methodical, well thought-out developments. Winter inspires a nervous desire to break out boldly, and I want to funnel this impatient energy into something productive and lasting. To harness the power of the wheel and use it to build my dreams.

So here’s to another year together. And, for some of us, another year apart. Another year of progress and preservation. What dreams do you have for it? Will you guide them gently or let them freely fly?

Showing title instead?

 

by Sixer

With Pockets and Ruffles

Apron at Last

That’s right, I have a finished non-food object for your wondering eyes to feast on. Or is that wandering eyes? You remember of course that pocket, which I referenced as recently as, what, three posts ago? Well, after being taken up, taken out, put down and laid away the two pockets have finally been stitched to the skirt of their intended apron, the skirt edges finished, the ties atached, and the bodice allowed to crown the whole thing, bringing it into completion.

It does feel rather nice to finally finish something, and something useful at that. But better than all else is how relaxing it was to sit and hand sew the pockets to the skirt. (Aren’t they clever? I got them from By Gum By Golly). I wouldn’t say that the activity was fun or enjoyable – certainly not as intoxcicating as, say, marathoning a TV show, or staying up until three finishing a book. Yet sitting in my own living room, with the christmas tree finally subdued in one corner and Karen Savage’s soothing accent readingng out Persuasion from the speakers, what more could be wanting for a peaceful evening (and morning and afternoon) of employment?Right Pocket

I discoverd a lot of things while making this apron, most of them things I had quite on purposely swept under the rug of memory. For instance, I don’t like measuring twice, mostly becasue I find it difficult enough to measure correctly the first time. There is a bit of wonky stitching on the ties from where I haphazardly ironed the folds without any measuring or desire for consistency. This led to trouble when I went acros the bodice and couldn’t see both sides of the ties. Whoops. Missed a spot.

More interesting, I found that I like hand sewing a whole lot more than machine sewing. I’m not any neater with my stitches when I sew by hand, but when I’m at the machine my greatest desire becomes Being Done and all my efforts focus toward speed. Hand sewing is soooo much slower by comparison that, even if I do think up a short cut, there is usually enough time to realize the flaws before I get there. What’s more, as long as there is something to entertain my mind – like music or a book or, if trusted myself more, TV – I find I actualy like the process of hand sewing. The movement of the needle in and out of the fabric, the glint of silver, the clash or blending of colors, whichever it may be. I discovered this kind of contentment while crosstitching too, which is of course unfortunate because I can’t help but think of cross stitching as one of those pretty but inherently dead-end arts, and hand sewing one’s own clothes, while impressive, sounds dangerously close to, say, climbing mount everest with only one granola bar or watching paint dry in a room without proper ventilation.

At any rate, here is an apron as a testimony that we can focus and get things done. That hand sewing can be the highlight of your week. That Persuasion has more angst behind a single “good morrow” than a trunk full high school dramas. And that, yes, not even ruffles can keep you from getting flour stains.Not wrong

These are from when I “tried it out” by making cupcakes. I only reazlied it when I was eating them later (and reading the last chapters of the book, becasue reading is faster than listening) but the characters in Persuassion spend a bit of time visiting Lymes, England and I happened to make Lime, Cupcakes. If you think it’s rather limp as a connection, I have it on good authority that lime can be used to crisp things up too – though that’s mineral kind, and usually in relation to pickels. Anyway, I wish I could remember where I first read about lime cupcakes. I was going to make lime something for dessert anyway, because I had them languishing in my firdge, but I don’t think cupcakes could have come to my mind without help. I used this recipe, utilizing all the juice from two limes (and using lemon-milk instead of buttermilk). I made the frosting too, but I couldn’t taste any rum in and it was too sweet to put on already sweet cupcakes. Plus, depsite loving fat in all its forms and having no qualms with sneaking it out of the mixing bowl, I still cannot get past the idea that eating this type of frosting = digging into a stick of butter. I haven’t had the desire to do that in the past, oh, decade or so (the last time I did my dad caught me. Enough said).

So, the stats for the apron:

Fabric: Random bits that came from other people. The skirt, for instance, is left over from a history fair table cloth. The fabric for the pockets is from my Grandma N’s collection.

Cost: All material I had on hand, so no cost at all.

Modifications: I couldn’t figure out the purpose of the bodice pleats. They were dashed awkward, so I took them out. Then I forgot all about the pleating when I sewed on the pockets and ended up leaving that off too because it made the fabric near the pockets lay weird. I didn’t line the skirt, but put the top between the right-sides-together waist ties and sewed the ties’ sides and straight across. Then I turned them right-side out, ironed down the still open edge, stuck in the bodice, and top-stitched the whole shebang.

First worn: Saturday 14th, making Cupcakes

Make it again?: Yes. The bodice is too wide for me at the top, and probably too long too. Plus, whoever heard of a kitchen with only one apron? I already know what colors I want for my next one.

Hmm, what’s better? Tasty cupcakes, tasty aprons, or finally getting something out of your workbasket?Tkae Heart

by Sixer

Seven Hour Socks

No, I havn’t started a foot-focused knitting project. In fact, I haven’t really started any knitting project at all. This post is strictly about the sewing. Or possibly it’s about procrastination, and is only masquerading as a post about progress. Which takes us back to the title, I suppose, becasue really I do feel as if I’ve slipped on a pair of seven league boots, only instead of traversing many miles in a single stride, I’ve managed to walk briskly from August right into October. This feeling is supported by the fact that time spent working (read: sitting at a desk) goes. So. Slowly. But all the little in between bits pass by in a blur.  Sometimes it feels like I’ve merely stepped out of my car in one week and entered it again in another.

The feeling has been growing since the beginning of August, about the time I started this apron. It was going to be simple. Easy. A way to ease myself into the sewing world, since the half a dozen unfinshed garments I have stowed cleverly out of the way seem to be telling me that jumping in head first only works when there is water in the pool.  Things were looking good. And then I decided that I wanted these pockets. And that, of course, meant embroidery. So I got a stitch dictionary out from the library and amused myself with making a spoon and several teaspoons worth of sugar crystals.  This was done realtively fast for me, and I predcited the apron would be done before my birthday.

Or I did, right up until I realized I had to do something for the other pocket. I spent days and days agonizing over what it should say, and when I finally did decided September Happened. At least, I think it happened. It’s all a little hazy and I don’t really have anything to show for the time I spent there, which makes me think I spent the whole month trotting around in my seven hour socks. The long and short of it is that, at the beginning of October, the second pocket looked something like this:
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Well, Monday night I was at Bible study and, in an effort not to figet during the endlessing notes, I put my hand in my pocket and found, drum roll, the above, folded, with a needle stuck carefully through it. I unpicked my unfortunate attempt at stem stitch and made a simple ‘R’. Yesterday I picked it up and put in the N, E, Y, J, O and heart that completed the pocket. Just like that. Maybe two hours, tops, and suddenly the thing I had been putting off becasue I was sure it would be boring and difficult was done. I tripped happily up the stairs to sew the backs on both pockets.

The happily delusioned can stop reading here, x-out of their screens, and just float away in a cloud of ignorant contentment, confident that this story ends with me happily hand sewing the pockets to my apron front. Those already embittered with the world, or trying to find out how to get the magic out of their own dimension-defying-footware, have probably already guessed what happened next, for it is exactly the thing that would happen to someone who left their sewing machine out, untouched, for three months. Thirty minutes after tripping up the stairs, with the bobbin finally full and loaded, I put my foot to the pedal and heard “whirr, whirr, bliiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.”

“Bliiiit“

I think I’ll come back to this project later. Maybe after a short walk?

by Sixer

Kitchen X

Welcome to Kitchen X – the experimental chop-shop, the room of a thousand inaccurate measurements. Not for the faint of heart is this gruesome compilation of culinary mash-ups.

Mystery Muffin

I actually don’t feel like I’ve been cooking that much lately – I’m so used to making cookies all the time, I guess, and I haven’t made any (at home) for almost a month. Still, In September I managed to make pretzel challah rolls and kimchi jjigae pulled pork. They were supposed to be eaten together, but I think that rice is better suited to pulled pork than the soft and chewy challah. Next time I’ll try a crusty sourdough. I made the bread using this recipe. I loved all the little helpful comments, and I even used her tutorial for making little knots out of the dough. Though the knots were easy to make in concept, shaping was still the hardest part of the process. The dough did not want to be anything but a blob, and it kept shrinking back to its original form. Maybe I needed to let them sit longer? At any rate, once shaped and allowed to rise a bit more I gave them a bath. I ended up using my cast iron frying pan, which was just large enough to hold a small braid. Yup, that’s right, I jumped the gun like usual and doubled the recipe so I could make two small loaves for myself and take the rest to work. This turned out to be just the right amount. If I make it again I’ll double it but just make knots. I liked them better than the loaves – they tended to come unbraided once cut.

The kimchi pulled pork doesn’t have a recipe. Really, I just wanted to get rid of the last bit of kimchi before it grew legs and walked out of my fridge. I had eaten all the cabbage out of both containers so the only thing left was radish and juice, and I’m not really thrilled about radish. Picky, picky. Kimchi jjigae is the traditional use of the kimchi dregs, being kimchi soup. It’s supposed to be made with old kimchi, and I always figured it’s what I would make with the last bit of mine. I always think of kimchi as cold and crisp (ah! just thinking of it makes my mouth happy!), but I really love it hot. Kimchi and thick slabs of ham, toasted on a slab of crusty bread with some lovely melty cheese . . . . Hmm, now I’m hungry again. Anyway, for this concoction I rubbed the pork shoulder with a conglomeration of garlic, garam masala, korean crushed pepper (I still have a huge bag leftover from my kimchi making escapades), and brown sugar. I pureed everything in my little pint-sized food processor and then rubbed it on the meat. This mixture smelled so incredible that I almost didn’t have the heart to do anything else to it. However I was strong and seared the shoulder with the onions and garlic the next day, adding the kimchi and the juices (if you remember, I made both white and red kimchi and I added the juices of both) and sticking the whole pot in the oven until fork tender. Yum. It’s spicy enough to make my nose run, but it’s a spice you can’t really taste. And the leftovers are amazing with some rice and a bit of coconut milk. Instant Korean flavored curry. Being gauche, I asked one of my coworker’s to smell it and she assured me that there was nothing unappetizing in it’s odor, so I feel safe eating this around other people too. I’ve got some leftover in my freezer, which I’ll either eat on a rainy day or turn into meat pies.

And now that you’ve gotten this far, I guess I’ll explain the muffins. These are the savory carrot-onion muffins from Makiko of Just Hungry-Just Bento fame. I’ve made these before (in Japan, no less) and liked the idea of having both a savory bread and a bit of extra veggies on hand in my freezer. Yes. I am part squirrel. And yes,  I doubled the recipe (in my defense, Makiko writes small recipes. Like really, I’m going to dirty a bowl just for ten muffins?). I also frankensteined it up. First, my oil measuring was a little slapdash (I had extra in the pan so I poured it into the wet ingredients . . . . ). Then I realized it called for walnuts, which I’m all out of. I thought, “Hmm, miso would be a good substitute, right?” {{1}} [[1]] The pumpkin-miso muffins are on the same page as the carrot ones, so that’s probably where I got the idea[[1]] and plopped a generous spoonful of white miso into the batter. But that didn’t seem nutty enough, so I added a giant pinch of flax seed as well. Then I realized I had sunflower seeds. Seeds are just small nuts, right? So in went a handful of those. The result is really pleasant. The miso makes the faux-maple syrup really pop, but also adds extra umami – the same effect you would get by adding cheddar cheese to the batter{{2}}. [[2]] Which now I totally have to try[[2]] The random addition of flax seed really helped the texture of these too, since they’re eggless. When they first came out of the oven the insides were still a little gooey and they tasted like a really thick meat pie. So good! Once they cooled they lost that gravy like center, but they’re still amazingly delicious. The best part is they don’t muffin top, which means they fit in my toaster for convenient defrosting.

Not sure whatthat white haze is in the photo. This photo was taken the morning after they were made, so the muffins were cool at this point.

Better than gold ingots in the bank.